New Laptop questions

[rlk-FrUbXkNCsVf2fBVCVOL8/A at public.gmane.org (Robert Krawitz)]

   From: "Englander, Irvin" <ienglander-ROuZJvFXBa6Vc3sceRu5cw at public.gmane.org>
   Date: Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:33:00 -0400

   Before you buy a new HP laptop, check it with the version of Linux
   that you plan to run. There have been BIOS problems with a number
   of HP laptops. I was unable to get Live CDs (several different
   distribs) to run on the laptops that our students get at
   school. Most crashed and froze on bootup. With some difficulty, we
   were able to do full installs of Fedora, but even there, there were
   issues and challenges along the way. I've also had problems with a
   recent HP desktop at home.

   Currently, I'm telling my friends that I've had the least install
   problems with Acer machines; I'm on my way out right now to buy a
   new Acer netbook (11" screen with a full-sized keyboard.)

I've had very good luck with Dells (Inspiron 8000, 8200, and
9400/E1705).  They're also usually quite easy to fix or upgrade.